Who cleans the boat after a day on the water?

[NewBoater]

Is it really needed every outing?

It is to me. I do the same thing. After every outing and going on 3 years (salt water) and it could pass for new. Get compliments every summer asking if it’s brand new.

 

[NewBoater]

I have princesses. They want the fun but not the work, which is fine with me. There is a reason all my toys look brand new, even though they may be many years older then they appear. Clean that baby with soap and water as soon as you get home, no matter the hour. Then, a wipe down with hot sauce. Wax twice a season. Not having a shiny, clean boat is unacceptable to me. Plus, when I sell it in a few years, I will get top dollar.

I couldn’t agree more and same with my wife and daughter. They love the fun and I love keeping my stuff like new.

 

[Steve Risley]

I clean it if needed, but ALWAYS dry it off after each use. I usually do it myself (very picky) and don't require others to help if they don't want to. Like a few others mentioned, I'm going out on the boat anyways and would have to clean it, dry it, etc. afterwards, so no biggie. We are fortunate to live on a very clean freshwater lake with a lift & dock, so it makes it very easy / convenient to clean it / dry it afterwards. My go to cleaner / wipe down chemical is Dawn Dish Soap & Water. Removes most things and very easy on the seats, SeaDek, etc. I also use 3M or 303 protectant for my seats. Have never tried any of the Boat Bling products since I've had good luck using what I use.

 

[Betik]

 

[Maccam26]

Ok understood, I like my stuff clean also but I have a Ducati a Jeep and a Charger Daytona to keep clean.... I use my boat 3-4 times a week during peak season... no way I can spend hours detailing it for every outing. I do wipe down the interior if we usd sunscreen. But you guys are dedicated, hats off

 

[Speedling]

When we clean the boat it's an all day affair. If we were to clean the boat every outing we would never boat. The little ones slow is down a lot.

 

[ralphsmithiii]

As a new boater, I'm still trying to find the correct balance for cleaning these boats after use in salt water. It's too soon to tell how often we'll take it out once the weather warms up (ha!) here in Florida, but even in the 50's, I'll still be going out to get seat time during the week since most of the times others are working. With that, currently I clean it after each use which takes me about 1 hour. That's spraying it down with fresh hose water (Tampa Tap), hand washing the entire interior with Megs boat soap followed by using a soft brush to do the hull. I'll spray it down of course with more fresh water. At first, I was just drying the windows and plastics. This last time I did the entire interior (was alot more work due to limited towels) but didn't really dry the hull. It stays covered in dry storage after.

With that, I'm now wondering if I need to hand wash it every single time. Maybe once at the end of the week if I'm going to be out a few times in said week? At least I'd pull it out of the gulf and before I take it to storage, hit it with some salt away top to bottom followed by some fresh water. I'm thinking it may not be necccasary to put elbow grease with a wash mitt if it just came out of the water and I knock it all down immediately. Still of course flush the motors.

Oh, and because of this post I discovered the Boat Bling products. I have a gallon of both the Hot and Vinyl sauce coming tomorrow plus a 32oz of the Conditioning sauce. One video of a guy also in Florida who uses his boat in salt water (I think maybe one of the owners?) said they almost never use soap on their boat. They pull it out, wash it down with fresh water, hit it with Hot Sauce and dry it all down inside and out with a towel and it looks brand new. I thought that was interesting....

 

[Bluewater272]

After every use I just put things away, and clean up anything obvious. At the end of the weekend (since we'll typically go out every fri/sat/sun) it'll get a fairly thorough cleaning. Every few weeks it gets a really good cleaning, typically on a day where I don't feel like taking it out, but don't mind having a couple drinks in the slip while we clean and hang out.

If I used it less often, I would do a full cleaning after each use. But as often as we use it during the season, I'd spend more time cleaning than boating.

 

[I_squared_r]

I'm a new boat owner so I can't speak personally. But my jet skis are salt use and I only hose it down with fresh water and flush the motor after each use. I only wax at the beginning of the season and wash with soap when it starts looking a bit ugly. I probably will do the same with the boat once the "new" wears off.

My philosophy is that it's not fun anymore when you need to obsess over every detail.

 

[1rjclark]

I give it the Basic Boat Bling wipe down after I get off the water. Sometimes I get back too late (after midnight) and will only hot sauce the hull but the rest gets done before I go out again.

 

[KC-AR240]

Hot Sauce ?

 

[ralphsmithiii]

Hot Sauce ?

All the sauces =)
@KC-AR240

https://www.boatbling.net/shop/

 

[PJ73]

I do the Hot Sauce after every outing - even if I'm going out the very next morning. Sometime my son helps, sometimes he doesn't.

I wipe mine down with a shammy when it gets out of the water then I wash it when I get home... or the next day depending on how tired I am. I wax it twice a year. But I have to ask. What in the wide wide world of sports is Hot sauce? And why don't I know about this "magical" product?

 

[Speedling]

Boat Bling HS - 0032 Hot Sauce Premium Hard Water Spot Remover - 32 oz. by Boat Bling https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LRHOTJM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Ar5dCbM6M3RM6
Many of us started using this line of product on old site but on the old site you could get in trouble for linking like i just did here. Stuff works great and the vinyl sauce works wonders too!

 

[Bluewater272]

Hot Sauce (linked above) is pretty awesome stuff. The Vinyl Sauce is extremely underwhelming, IMO.

 

[txav8r]

I even use hot sauce on y chrome and windows on the motorhome!

 

[Shookie]

Man, after reading this I feel so guilty. I'm such a slacker with my new boat. Keep it at the lake and by the time we get off, everyone is in a rush to get home.... Haven't waxed it yet (but plan to in the spring), only washed the outside once, couple other wipe downs and I've washed the inside a couple times. The hurricane really screwed up boating here in North Carolina from September on.... Work, travel, kids sports, dance and all that other shit certainly don't help either.... I promise to do better in 2019

Edit - I think some of you are lying to make yourselves feel better about yourself, lol....

 

[Speedling]

Man, after reading this I feel so guilty. I'm such a slacker with my new boat. Keep it at the lake and by the time we get off, everyone is in a rush to get home.... Haven't waxed it yet (but plan to in the spring), only washed the outside once, couple other wipe downs and I've washed the inside a couple times. The hurricane really screwed up boating here in North Carolina from September on.... Work, travel, kids sports, dance and all that other shit certainly don't help either.... I promise to do better in 2019

Edit - I think some of you are lying to make yourselves feel better about yourself, lol....

Once a year I have to give my boat a good Marine polish and part of that is because I don't wax it often enough. A good polish job and a good wax job will probably last all year if you just spot wax it was something like hot sauce or a similar product

 

[buckbuck]

Hot Sauce every time it comes out of the water.

 

[PJ73]

Man, after reading this I feel so guilty. I'm such a slacker with my new boat. Keep it at the lake and by the time we get off, everyone is in a rush to get home.... Haven't waxed it yet (but plan to in the spring), only washed the outside once, couple other wipe downs and I've washed the inside a couple times. The hurricane really screwed up boating here in North Carolina from September on.... Work, travel, kids sports, dance and all that other shit certainly don't help either.... I promise to do better in 2019

Edit - I think some of you are lying to make yourselves feel better about yourself, lol....

My last boat was an '06 Sea Ray 185 sport. I would wax it in early May and the week I would do my final clean before storage. I would always try to wash it when I got home, but some days it just wasn't possible so I have off on Tuesdays and would do it then, unless I knew we were going out on the next weekend and it wasn't that dirty. I would however, not let it go a couple weeks without washing it. I would also clean the engine compartment once a year. That is the reason a 12 yr old boat got me top dollar when I sold it. If you take care of it, you'll get the best price out there. That is the only reason I was able to afford my new 2019, 212x because of the sale of this boat, I am able to put down over 1/3 of the price for a down payment. If "hot sauce" does a better job than the "starbright" stuff I used for years, I'll gladly switch. Oh, and I found that NORWEX works great on the windows and chrome.